


Out of the Dark

by Dreamshaper



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, I'm me so I couldn't do something with no holtzbert, and a bit of hurt/comfort, and fluff, and of course there is angst, check it out on tumblr!, for the Ghostbusters Halloween giveaway :D
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 10:28:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12455640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamshaper/pseuds/Dreamshaper
Summary: What begins as a routine bust in a haunted house during Halloween takes a much darker turn when a close encounter with the ghost has unexpected consequences.





	Out of the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Did I ever mention I hate writing summaries? Especially when I can't come up with one which doesn't spoil parts of the story, argh. ANYWAY this is my entry for the giveaway over at https://ghostbustersevents.tumblr.com/ - check it out :D

_Like ice on a lake of tears_  
_I’ll take you through_  
 _Life fades in anew_  
 _With someone like you_

**Kamelot – The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)**

 

“I can’t believe we’re busting a ghost in a haunted house on Halloween”, Erin said with a small shake of her head as she got out of Ecto-1, looking up at the house in question; next to her, Abby shrugged, then smirked, making the physicist look at her when she spoke up.

“Not really surprising though”, she said, while Holtzmann and Patty got out of the vehicle as well, the engineer opening the trunk and pulling out the proton packs, “Halloween’s always been sort of a mystical holiday, before it got all commercialized, so I can see why ghosts might be stronger that certain day.”

“Good point”, Erin had to admit, while Patty nodded her agreement to Abby’s words, accepting the proton pack Holtzmann handed to her and putting it on before she spoke up.

“Well, the Halloween we celebrate today does come from All Hallow’s Eve, which had nothing to do with candy and costumes”, she let the other three know, while Holtzmann gave Abby her proton pack, “it was more about remembering and honouring the dead. So I wouldn’t be surprised if the ghosts got some extra juice that night.”

“And how fitting that the ghost is haunting a haunted house”, Holtzmann commented as she handed Erin’s pack to the redhead, their fingers touching in the process, just for the smallest moment, but still Erin felt it, a flash of heat rushing down her spine – before she rigorously reminded herself of the fact that she certainly had no feelings for Holtzmann, that she was very straight and not interested in the engineer that way at all, and even if she was – which she wasn’t, thank you very much – it wouldn’t be appropriate to date a co-worker.

She was quite sure that she had kept these thoughts from showing through her features quite well, but apparently, Holtzmann had picked up _something_ , giving her a brief look, but thankfully not commenting, simply putting her own pack on before she slammed the trunk shut.

“Alright”, Erin said, in an attempt to distract herself from improper thoughts about her co-worker, “let’s go take care of this ghost. Or ghosts, do we know if it’s more than one?”

“No”, Abby told her, making her grimace, “the owners called us when their haunted house turned out to be spookier than planned, but they don’t know if it’s one ghost using the stuff they put up or more than one. Guess we’ll find out.”

Nodding, Erin pulled the proton wand from the pack, then took a moment to make sure her proton shotgun was securely holstered to her thigh and could be pulled out at a moment’s notice if necessary; and once she had reassured herself that her sidearm was within easy reach, she got moving, taking the lead, the others right behind her, following her to the haunted house’s entrance.

“Thank God you’re here”, the owner greeted them, “you’re the Ghostbusters right? I’m James Martinelli, I called you, you can call me Jim… um… there’s been a shitton of noise since I called you guys, but I know for a fact no one’s in there.”

“No worries, Jim”, Patty reassured him, prompting him to give her a grateful look at her soothing tone, “we’ll take care of any ghost or ghosts in there. Just make sure no one does go in there until we’re done, alright?”

He nodded eagerly, looking a bit less nervous now, something which didn’t last long though as a loud crashing sound came from somewhere within the house, making him flinch; Patty gave him another reassuring smile, and once he didn’t look anymore as if he’d faint on the spot, the four women got moving again, Erin being the first one to enter the house.

She had to give the man and his staff points for trying, she thought to herself, the house would have been spooky and creepy even if she hadn’t known there was a ghost around; the walls were covered in cobwebs and surprisingly convincing green ectoplasm – even though that might have come from the ghost and not be part of the decoration, she realized a bit belatedly – and she could hear low moaning come from within the walls, complete with clanking chains, the flickering lights only adding to the ambience.

“They certainly tried hard”, Abby commented, making Erin nod, her eyes flickering back and forth as she almost expected the ghost to come blasting out of the wall any moment; apparently though, the ghost had no need for confrontation yet, and didn’t show itself, the physicist holding back a groan at the idea of spending hours with searching for it.

“Heeeere ghosty ghosty ghosty”, Holtzmann apparently had similar thoughts, making the other three flinch with the sudden unexpected loudness of her voice, “come out come out, wherever you are!”

“You did not just quote Anne Rice”, Patty said, incredulous, “that didn’t work with Rowan and it won’t work with this one.”

“Says who?” Holtzmann argued back, Erin and Abby listening in amusement, “maybe it will work with this one. Maybe it likes Anne Rice.”

“I don’t think ghosts read much”, Erin pointed out, feeling a bit weak in the knees at the bright smile Holtzmann gave her in response; before the engineer could give her opinion on that matter though, one of the doors lining the hallway up ahead flew open with enough force to slam against the wall, making them all jump, all four aiming their proton wands at the doorway a second later.

“…guess that was one of the haunted house special effects”, Abby said when nothing else happened, “damn, that is not making this bust any easier.”

“Bet the ghost is counting on that”, Erin grumbled, making the others nod in dismay, “maybe it’ll even try to wear us out using those special effects. We have to be careful.”

She glanced around as they slowly made their way down the hall, once more dismayed at the fact that they had no idea if it was just one ghost or actually more than one; a moment later though, that dismay was pushed from her mind as she looked into the room behind the door which had flown open – and a skeleton came rushing at her, accompanied by high-pitched, hysterical laughter, the physicist flinching back before she realized what was going on.

“Damn it”, she grumbled, almost expecting the other three to laugh at her, here she was, one of the Ghostbusters, and got freaked out by a skeleton; thankfully though, none of the others laughed, Holtzmann giving the skeleton a baleful look instead, making Erin wonder if she hadn’t been the only one to get startled.

“Well”, Patty said, eying the skeleton as she moved past it, “if that kind of jump scare is all this haunted house has, at least the ghost can’t really use them against us?”

“I should hope so”, Abby grumbled, then let out a sigh as she realized a critical oversight on their part, “damn, we should have asked that owner what sort of scares they put up, just to be on the safe side.”

“Ah it’s gonna be fine”, Holtzmann said, making Erin smile a bit with her optimism, “next time something flies out at us like Mister Boner back there, I’ll just blast it with my proton wand.”

“Please don’t ever say Mister Boner again”, Patty replied with a roll of her eyes, making Erin giggle while Abby grinned; Holtzmann reacted by poking her tongue out at the historian, then they fell quiet as they focused on the task at hand again, Erin’s grip on the proton wand tightening when she felt the fine hair at the back of her neck rise.

“You’re feeling that, too, aren’t you”, she said, keeping her voice low so the ghost wouldn’t hear her, just in case it was nearby; the other women let out agreeing murmurs, and all banter and humour ceased as all their attention was on their surroundings now, none of them wanting the ghost to get the jump on them.

They all kept looking around, and strained their ears to pick up the smallest sound it might make, the smell of ionization filling their nostrils… and despite their vigilance, the ghost got the jump on them after all.

It came rushing through the wall, not making a sound, as if it had been aware that the Ghostbusters were searching for it with the intention to trap or destroy it; and it slammed into Holtzmann, the engineer just having time for a surprised yelp before she was rammed against the bookshelf against the wall behind her, Erin letting out a cry of her own when the shelf turned on hidden hinges and both Holtzmann and the ghost vanished into the darkness behind it.

“Holtz!” Erin cried out, her cry mixing with the _thud_ of the shelf slamming back into place; and when the physicist pushed against it just a second later, it wouldn’t budge, if she hadn’t known it actually could move, she never would have suspected it.

“I’ll get the owner”, Abby said while Erin frantically tried to find out how to make the bookshelf move again, “he’ll know how to operate this!”

She ran off, her footsteps quickly fading as she rushed back to the front door; Patty moved to help Erin, but no matter how hard they tried and what they did, the shelf wouldn’t move, and by the time Abby came back with the owner in tow, both women were frantic and frightened for their friend, none of them wanting to imagine what sorts of horrible things the ghost might be doing to Holtzmann in this very moment, but unable to stop the gruesome images from flooding their mind.

“I’m so sorry, I should have told you about this”, he babbled as he moved to push the secret mechanism which prompted the shelf to swing aside again, once more revealing the secret passageway, Erin feeling her heart clench up with fear when it turned out to be empty, “we use those tunnels when the haunted house is open to visitors, so we can move back and forth without anyone seeing, they’re all through the house…”

Ignoring his helpless explanation, Erin pushed past him and into the tunnel; Abby took a moment to tell him that he should go back outside and wait for them there before she followed the other two, Patty having hurried along right after the physicist.

The darkness in the tunnel made Erin glad that Patty had had the idea to add little flashlights to the shoulder strap of the proton packs, since now, they could all make use of said lights and didn’t need to stumble around in the dark; and the lights, Erin told herself, would also make sure that they wouldn’t miss any traces Holtzmann and the ghost might have left.

_Like slime_ , Erin thought to herself, unable to stop the next, much more unpleasant thought from flashing through her brain, _or blood._

“Holtz!” she called out, suddenly not caring anymore if the ghost could hear them coming – if it did, she reasoned, it might stop whatever it might be doing to Holtzmann, and if the engineer could answer, they might find her faster, “Holtz, if you can, call out, we’re coming for you!”

She fell silent, gave the engineer a chance to respond… and after a few seconds, malicious cackling echoed through the tunnel, and Erin’s blood ran cold.

Without any concern for her own safety, she started to run at that sound, tried to follow it, ignoring it when Patty called out to her that she should slow down; and a short while later, a bright blue glow from one of the tunnels leading away from the one they were in caught her eye, and she sped up even further, hearing Abby and Patty behind her, but not looking back, only focused on getting to the ghost and to Holtzmann.

With all thoughts of stealth and sneaking up on the ghost forgotten, it was no surprise that the apparition heard her coming; and so, Erin heard it cackle again, that malicious laugh which made her blood run cold – and then, the blue glow vanished as the ghost took off through the wall, just when Erin rounded the corner.

A second later, the ghost was forgotten though, despite how it had proven that it wasn’t just malevolent, but dangerous; because as Erin rounded the corner, she saw Holtzmann sitting on the floor, slumped against the wall, her head hanging so low that her chin was almost resting on her chest.

“Holtz”, Erin started as she rushed to the engineer’s side, “Holtz, are you…”

She trailed off as the beam from her flashlight fell onto the engineer the moment she was close enough, the words dying in her throat, her heart suddenly beating so fast in her chest that it hurt.

Holtzmann’s hair had gone completely white, and as Erin knelt down next to her, she saw the empty look in her eyes and the unsettlingly slack expression on her face.

_As if she’s asleep with her eyes open_ , she thought to herself, saying the engineer’s name again and touching her shoulder; and when that brought no reaction at all, the relief about finding the younger woman vanished into nothingness, fear clenching up her heart again.

“What’s wrong with her”, Abby demanded to know as she knelt down next to the physicist, “is she hurt? Holtz? Holtzy, can you hear me?”

“One of us has to stay with her”, Patty said, looking at the younger woman in concern, a bit freaked out by how Holtzmann just sat there and stared into nothingness, so unlike her usual self, “but that ghost is still somewhere in this house, we have to take care of that…”

“Let’s go”, Erin gave back, coming to her feet; part of her was howling in panic at the thought of not being the one to stay with Holtzmann, but another, louder part of her wanted to kick this ghost’s ass, and she knew that, if she’d stay with Holtzmann and the engineer wouldn’t get better, she’d only slip deeper into the fear and panic, and that would help no one.

Abby and Patty just nodded, if it surprised them that Erin wanted to go and not stay with the engineer, they didn’t let it show; it was quickly decided that Abby would stay with Holtzmann, and Erin and Patty set out to catch the ghost, Erin allowing herself to hope that, perhaps, Holtzmann would have recovered and be back to normal by the time they’d return to where they had found her in the tunnels.

* * *

As it turned out, Holtzmann was not back to normal by the time Erin and Patty had found the ghost and had wrangled it into a trap; she was still sitting in the same position, Abby crouched next to her, the researcher just having to give the other two one look when they came back to tell them that nothing had changed.

“I don’t know what that ghost did to her”, she stated, Erin swallowing heavily as the bit of hope she’d had allowed herself withered and died again, “but whatever it is, I don’t think she’ll just… snap out of it. Should we take her to the hospital?”

Patty nodded while Erin knelt down next to Holtzmann and once more touched her shoulder, her heart cramping up when the engineer didn’t react the slightest; she agreed that taking Holtzmann to the hospital couldn’t hurt, feeling the tiniest bit of relief when, as she took the other woman’s hand and gave a gentle tug, Holtzmann came to her feet with her, and walked with her willingly enough, stopping when she did and getting moving again when Erin continued walking, as long as Erin kept holding on to her hand.

She barely acknowledged the owner waiting outside, leading Holtzmann past him and to the car; Abby stopped to briefly talk to him, tell him that the ghost had been taken care of, only telling him that they’d contact him later when he started to talk about payment.

While they talked, Erin carefully helped Holtzmann into the car, then sat in the back next to her; Patty took the driver’s seat, and Abby rode shotgun, glancing at the engineer every now and then, unsettled by the slackness of Holtzmann’s face, the expression unchanged since they had found her.

“Holtz?” Erin softly said as Patty drove to the nearest hospital, managing to stick to the speed limit despite her worry about the engineer, telling herself that getting into a car crash wouldn’t help any of them, “Holtzmann? Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can. Holtz…?”

There was not the slightest reaction, Holtzmann just staring off into nothingness; still Erin kept holding on to her hand, just in case, her mind racing as she found herself unable to stop all sort of unpleasant futures.

_What if we never get her back? What if she stays like this forever?_ The mere thought was enough to make her swallow heavily against the sudden threat of tears, and she gave her best to push this dreadful idea out of her mind; it had lodged itself there firmly though, and spread, filling her mind’s eye with images of Holtzmann just sitting in a chair all day, looking out the window with unseeing eyes, faceless people caring for her and the three remaining Ghostbusters visiting her whenever they found time.

_No_ , she rigorously managed to cut these thoughts off at last, just as Patty parked in front of the hospital, _that won’t happen. They’ll figure out what’s wrong with her and help her, fix her, and she’ll be just fine._

She had to gently guide Holtzmann again to get her out of the car, and then the engineer just stood there next to the vehicle, until Erin took her hand; once the physicist’s fingers had curled around hers again, and Erin tugged a bit, she walked with her again, the redhead trying hard to ignore the darkness still looming in her mind as she once more told herself that certainly, the hospital would figure out what was wrong with Holtzmann and that soon, the engineer would be okay again.

* * *

“I’m sorry to be so blunt, but there is nothing physically wrong with your colleague”, the doctor, his nametag identifying him as Doctor Hanscom, “we did a number of tests and couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. There is no medical explanation for her state.”

“There has to be _something_ ”, Erin was the first to break the shocked silence which had formed after these unexpected words, with a helpless gesture at the engineer, Holtzmann lying in a hospital bed and staring up at the ceiling, her ghostbusting coveralls having been replaced by a white hospital gown, “just… just look at her!”

“I’m sorry I can’t give you any better news”, Dr Hanscom gave back, with genuine sympathy in his eyes, “but there is nothing we can do for her. Her blood pressure, her brainwaves, it’s all normal. Perhaps if we sent for a specialist…”

“No”, Abby said after exchanging brief glances with Patty and Erin, “if there’s nothing wrong with her… nothing you can find at least… What sort of specialist would you get? We’ll just take her back to the firehouse, see if we can figure something out there, it was ghost-related after all…”

“Perhaps we should at least keep her overnight”, the doctor suggested in response, “monitor her heartrate and brainwaves while she’s asleep, it might not lead to anything new but…it won’t hurt, either.”

He didn’t want to say so out loud, but he was pretty much stumped, and grasping for straws at this point; still suggesting this would make him seem more competent than simply saying that he had no idea what was wrong with the young woman and consequently had no idea how to fix it, even though part of him was aware that monitoring her during the night wouldn’t bring any new insights, either.

“One night”, Erin said, her eyes never leaving the engineer’s motionless form on the bed, “and tomorrow morning, if there’s nothing new, we’ll take her to the firehouse. Maybe we should stay here with her, in case she… wakes up.”

Abby and Patty both nodded their agreement to that, and even though it technically wasn’t allowed, the doctor didn’t try to stop them; instead, he simply let them know that they could get food and drink at the hospital cafeteria until eight, then left the room, the three women getting as comfortable as it was possible in the hospital chairs, ready for a long night.

* * *

In the next morning, Holtzmann’s state was unchanged; her eyes had closed at some point during the night, signalling that she had fallen asleep, and they opened again when the doctor came to check on her in the morning, but were still as empty and expressionless as they had been the previous day.

None of the other three Ghostbusters was really surprised when Dr Hanscom told them that the monitoring they had done during the night, of her heartrate and brainwaves, hadn’t shown anything out of the ordinary, but while it didn’t surprise them, it still dismayed them; and so, the mood in the room was sombre once the doctor had let them know they could take Holtzmann home if they wanted and had left the room again.

They wanted to get her back to the firehouse as fast as possible, harbouring the quiet hope that perhaps, being in such a familiar and loved environment would trigger something which might bring her back; and so, with the help of Patty, they put the coveralls back on her, then Erin took her hand once again and led her out of the hospital, trying not to let her hopes wither and die again at the slack look on Holtzmann’s face.

She carefully helped her into the car again, then sat next to her; none of them spoke during the drive back to the firehouse, the silence only broken when Patty parked the car in the garage and Erin said Holtzmann’s name, in an attempt to see if perhaps, just being back in the building would help.

“Maybe we should take her up to the lab”, Abby suggested when no reaction came from the engineer, “perhaps seeing all that stuff, that might trigger something…”

Erin wondered what they would do if it wouldn’t, but nodded, guiding Holtzmann out of the car; pushing those doubts aside for now, she took the engineer’s hand and led her upstairs, Abby and Patty following along behind the two, anxiously watching the younger woman, eager for the smallest sign which would show that this was in some form helping her.

“Look Holtzy”, Erin said when no reaction came from the engineer and she just stood there, at the top of the stairs, “that’s what you were working on before we left for that bust, remember? The updated proton pack? Less weight, more punch?”

She guided her over to her workbench, where the work in progress was laid out; just a day ago, Erin thought to herself as she looked at the engineer and saw the complete lack of reaction, Holtzmann had been working here, working and dancing and cracking jokes, and suddenly, it was hard to breathe as she found herself facing the possibility that she’d never get to see Holtzmann dance again, that Holtzmann would be like this for the rest of her life, unresponsive and unaware of what was going on her around her, an empty shell which only moved when others led her.

“Holtz, please”, the words burst from her before she could try to stop them, making both Abby and Patty flinch at the unexpected pain in her voice, “please come back to us, come on, you can’t just… Holtzmann, come on. Come on!”

She grabbed the engineer’s shoulders and turned her so that they were facing each other, searching her eyes for something, _anything_ , the smallest sign that Holtzmann was still somewhere in there; for a moment, she almost felt like shaking her, an impulse she fought down though, telling herself that treating the younger woman so harshly certainly wouldn’t help.

“Please”, Erin said again instead, voice breaking; and when Holtzmann just kept staring ahead without seeing anything, she broke, letting go of her and turning away, a harsh sob freeing itself from her throat, Abby immediately rushing to embrace her, trying to give her some comfort as she cried, Patty moving to join the hug after a moment, the three women standing there and trying to support each other as a future with Holtzmann in this dreadful state seemed all too likely now.

* * *

A few days went by, and Holtzmann showed no sign of improvement; Dr Gorin came by to check on her, even though this was far from her expertise, and brought along a colleague much more qualified for this, but the woman was as stumped as Holtzmann’s mentor, none of them able to tell what was wrong with her.

The other three Ghostbusters took turns staying with Holtzmann and taking care of her; she’d eat if food was put in front of her and a fork or spoon was put in her hand, mechanically and without any obvious reaction, and would drink if someone guided a straw into her mouth, and whenever her friends guided her to the bedroom and got her to lie down, she’d fall asleep at once, the hopes that she’d be back to normal in the following morning dashed to pieces every time she opened her eyes and they still were empty and oddly lifeless.

Now, on the fifth day since the ghost had done whatever it had been to Holtzmann, it was Erin’s turn again to take care of her; they had breakfast together, and as Erin held the straw from the cup of tea she had made for Holtzmann to the engineer’s lips, she wondered if this was how their days would be from now on, the three of them caring for Holtzmann day after day, and what they would do if Holtzmann wouldn’t recover.

“I’m sorry”, she said, suddenly unable to take the silence any longer – when they all had started working together, she sometimes had wondered if Holtzmann was physically incapable of sitting still and working quietly, like Abby, Patty and Erin herself did, but now that the engineer was in this state, not talking and not moving unless someone guided her, she found herself missing the constant music and the way Holtzmann had always been in motion, even when she had been sitting at her workbench and studying blueprints.

“If I could turn back time and make this alright, I would”, she added, putting the teacup aside so she could take tender hold of Holtzmann’s hand, “or if there was anything else I could do to make this better… God, I’d give anything to have you back Holtz, I’m sorry…”

She fell silent and swallowed heavily against the sudden lump in her throat; Holtzmann’s hand lay limply in her own, and the lack of the engineer’s fingers curling around hers only made it worse, the words coming suddenly and unbidden, now that it was just the two of them, with no one else there to hear.

“I’m so, so sorry Holtzmann”, Erin brought out in a weak, trembling voice, “I wish I could make all of this undone, I’m so sorry… and I wish I had been braver when you were still… you. But I thought we’d have time, I thought I’d have time to… to come to terms with all of this, with what you make me feel, and now… now you’re like this and you might never come back and if I just had been braver sooner…”

She fell silent and had to take in a deep breath to keep herself from crying; closing her eyes to hold the tears back, she breathed slowly and controlled, opening her eyes again just when there was a brief flash of _something_ in Holtzmann’s gaze, just for a heartbeat, so short that she wasn’t sure she had actually seen it or if wishful thinking was making her imagining things at this point.

“Holtz…?” she said, once again daring to hope, “Holtzmann? Can you hear me? It’s me, Erin. Come on, give me some sign if you can hear me, squeeze my hand or… or say something, or just make some sort of sound if you can’t talk…”

Belatedly, she realized that whatever she had seen, if it really had been there, had come up when she had been speaking of her feelings and her regret about not facing them and then acting on them sooner; and so, she took in a deep breath, telling herself that she could do this, that she could face the truth if it meant that it would bring Holtzmann back to her.

“You know what”, she said, giving her best to sound light-hearted and calm, but her eyes never leaving Holtzmann’s, “if it turns out I’m wrong, and you do come back, I’ll make it up to you that you had to wait so long for me to figure things out. I’ll take you on the most awesome date ever. We’ll do whatever you want, and eat at that dingy pizza place you like, so maybe I’ll finally find out if the pizza there really is as good as you claim it is.”

This time, she was sure that she had seen something in Holtzmann’s eyes, there just for a second, but it had been _there_ ; and so, she went on with describing this amazing first date, telling Holtzmann that they could get cotton candy after the pizza and then maybe go to the zoo, or dumpster diving, or whatever she’d want to do, and just when she started to fear that she might run out of things to say, she saw another flash of awareness in the engineer’s eyes.

And then, Holtzmann’s fingers twitched against her palm, and Erin’s heart lurched up to her throat.

“Holtz”, she said, squeezing her hand encouragingly, “Holtz, you’re in there, I know you are. Come back to me, please. To us. Come back to us, now, alright?”

She squeezed her hand again and then, giving in to another sudden impulse, leaned forward and kissed the younger woman’s forehead, not quite daring to go for the lips; and as she did so, she heard Holtzmann’s breath hitch noticeably, her own getting caught in her throat when she pulled back and her eyes met the engineer’s.

Holtzmann wasn’t quite back yet, Erin could tell, but her eyes weren’t as empty anymore as they had been; and so, she started talking again, promising her more dates after the amazing first one she had described, eager to help her come all the way back, before she might end up slipping back into the state the ghost had put her in.

“You can do this”, she encouraged her, squeezing her hand again, then reaching out with her free hand to cup the engineer’s cheek, “come on Holtz, come back to me. If only so you can tease me for needing all this drama to acknowledge that I have a crush on you.”

The moment she said the last few words, Holtzmann jerked in her seat, as if she’d received an electric shock; and just like that, awareness was back in her eyes, from one second to the next, her fingers curling tightly around Erin’s, the physicist unable to hold back a flinch of her own at this sudden and unexpected, but very welcome development.

“Erin”, Holtzmann said, her voice oddly hoarse from days of not using it all, “I can’t believe you needed all this drama to acknowledge you have a crush on me.”

Erin could just laugh in reply, shaking her head – before she pulled Holtzmann closer and hugged her tightly, the engineer returning the embrace immediately, and when a few moments later, she pulled back just enough so she could kiss the redhead, all of Erin’s worries vanished into nothingness, replaced with a giddiness so enormous that it made her feel lightheaded.

“I believe”, the physicist mumbled once they had pulled apart again, “I owe you the best first date ever.”

“You got me out of… whatever that ghost did”, Holtzmann pointed out in response, “so technically, I owe you way more. But I’m not saying no to that date.”

Erin just smiled and shrugged, then pulled her in for another kiss; afterwards, she called Abby and Patty to give them the good news, and then, she sat down with Holtzmann to plan their first date, still feeling giddy, happy that things had worked out that way and that finally, the three of them had Holtzmann back.


End file.
